"I did not dream that my field trips would expose me to considerable danger, yet in each of the following six months I was to earn a special service bonus from my frequency for coming under close enemy fire. It was a poor way to make a living; I wouldn't recommend it." (Audio Interview, 5:44)

Though he was drafted into the Army in January 1951, George Zimmer would not reach Korea for another two years, and by that time, he was a commissioned officer. Assigned to work with radio communications—a field for which he was not trained—Zimmer was to supervise 120 soldiers in the laying and maintaining of land lines for radio contact. Even after he received upgraded equipment in April 1953, Zimmer had problems with radios malfunctioning in the rough terrain and under fire. He notes that his unit took more casualties in the last six weeks of the conflict than any other time, as both sides jockeyed for positions they hoped to hold when a truce was signed.